Flowers were laid by the roadside in Head Lane, Great Cornard, over the weekend following the death of Mrs Ward on Friday evening while she was understood to be returning from a holiday.

Residents from the street said she had just got off a coach from a holiday in Devon when the collision happened.

As she crossed the road she was in a collision with a Honda car at around 6.55pm. Despite the efforts of crews from the ambulance service and the East Anglian Air Ambulance she died en-route to West Suffolk Hospital.

Marie Retzback, 59, said Christine had been a foster mother for many years and had also worked in schools.

She said: “She was very well-known and hugely respected lady with an infectious laugh. She devoted an awful lot of her life to children and she was involved in a lot of clubs.

“Anyone that I have spoken to - as well as people who have moved away - have got very fond memories of her. She had a big impact on people’s lives.

“She was a good-hearted woman; a really nice lady who gave a lot to the community.”

Diane Cox, 62, has lived in the village, near Sudbury, for more than 20 years. She said: “She was a lovely lady, it’s a terrible thing to happen. She was well-known and well-liked in the community, it’s an awful thing that’s happened.”

The flowers were laid outside New Life Church which is on the corner with the junction for Wells Hall Road. Church elders, Matthew Warnock and Stuart Ayling, said: “It must be devastating for the family and relatives, friends and neighbours and love ones - it’s very tragic. We send our condolences and prayers to the family.”

Anyone with information about the collision should telephone police on 101.